Category: secure hospitals

‘A series of failings led to the murder of a man by a violent schizophrenia patient, the BBC has learned. Jeffrey Barry stabbed neighbour Kamil Ahmad at their supported flats in Bristol in July 2016, hours after his release from a secure mental hospital. Barry had been detained after hearing voices and threatening to murder Mr Ahmad. But an independent panel was not told of his history of violence towards his neighbour before approving his release.’

‘Rapists, armed robbers, arsonists… At Bethlem Royal Hospital, medical teams try to rehabilitate some of Britain’s most violent, mentally ill patients. The Telegraph gets a rare glimpse of the secure wards.’

‘Broadmoor Hospital has been told to make urgent changes after a report which highlighted the “overuse” of face-down restraints on patients. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the high-security hospital in Berkshire “inadequate” after an inspection.’

‘Alan Hagan, 48, was found guilty of committing misconduct in public office over his dealings with the defunct newspaper’s then crime reporter Lucy Panton in 2008, while he worked at Ashworth hospital in Merseyside.’

‘The common law duty to act fairly was engaged when a decision was made as to whether to transfer a patient detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 from a medium to a high security hospital. Where the decision was largely a clinically-based decision with a rationing aspect, there was a need for circumspection as to what procedure was required. Absent urgency, a clinical reason precluding notification, or some other reason such as the exposure of other patients or staff to the risk of harm, the “gists” of the letter of reference to the high security hospital by the hospital that wished to transfer the patient and the assessment by the clinician from the high security hospital ought to be provided to the patient and/or hisrepresentative, and the patient should be afforded an opportunity to make written submissions to the decision-making panel.’

“A man detained at Broadmoor high-security hospital has spoken of his ‘determination to get heard’ ahead of becoming the first psychiatric patient to have an appeal against detention open to the public.”

“A man who attacked and killed a fellow patient at a high-security psychiatric hospital because he ‘wanted to eat him’ was not being watched properly, and had not been adequately assessed, an inquest jury ruled on Thursday.”

“A hospital trust was entitled to rely upon an application for the admission for treatment of a patient under the Mental Health Act 1983 which appeared to comply with section 6(3) of the Act as being a lawfully made application pursuant to the provisions of the Act. Where such an application, completed by an approved mental health professional (AMHP), had failed to comply with those provisions, the failure rendered the patient’s detention unlawful and imposed the responsibility for the unlawful detention upon the AMHP. The statutory defence in section 139(1), which relieved the AMHP from civil liability unless he or she had acted in bad faith or without reasonable care, would be read down by virtue of section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 so as to permit a claim by the detained person for compensation from the AHMP.”

WLR Daily, 17th January 2011

Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.